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Pakistan
SOCIETY
Population: 1994 (July) estimated 129 million;
annual growth rate officially estimated at 3.1 percent.
Ethnic Groups: In general percentages of population
similar to linguistic groups: Punjabis 66 percent, Sindhis 13
percent, Pakhtuns 9 percent, Baloch 3 percent, muhajirs
(immigrants from India and their descendants) 8 percent, and other
ethnic groups 1 percent.
Language: Urdu official language, but English
in general use in government, military, business, and higher education.
Urdu spoken as native tongue by only 8 percent of population,
Punjabi by about 48 percent, the Punjabi variant Siraiki by 10
percent, Sindhi by about 12 percent, Pakhtu or Pashto by about
8 or 9 percent, Balochi, 3 percent, Hindko, 2 percent, and Brahui,
1 percent. Native speakers of other languages, including English
and Burushaski, account for 8 percent of population.
Religion: About 97 percent of Pakistanis are
Muslim, 77 percent of whom are Sunnis and 20 percent Shia; remaining
3 percent of population divided equally among Christians, Hindus,
and other religions.
Education and Literacy: In 1992 overall literacy
rate estimated at more than 36 percent for adult population. Literacy
rates substantially lower for women. In 1990 only forty-five educated
women for every 100 educated men. Education organized into five
levels: primary (grades one through five); middle (grades six
through eight); high (grades nine and ten); intermediate (grades
eleven and twelve); and university undergraduate and graduate
programs. Preparatory classes (kachi, or nursery) formally
incorporated into the system in 1988.
Health and Welfare: Substandard housing, inadequate
sanitation and water supply, and widespread malnutrition contribute
to spread of disease and to high infant, childhood, and maternal
mortality. Leading causes of death gastroenteritis, respiratory
infections, congenital abnormalities, tuberculosis, malaria, and
typhoid fever.
Data as of April 1994
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